Report Finds Which Banks House The World’s Largest Cryptocurrency Exchanges

The Block has found which banks are used by popular cryptocurrency exchanges.

This provides clarity after a week of rumors that Bitfinex was having trouble finding banking relationships.

Over the past month, the cryptocurrency space has been ripe with drama regarding banking. First, Bitfinex had troubles with deposits and withdrawals, causing allegations of insolvency. Then Noble Bank, the bank that previously hosted Tether, was put up for sale. After all this bad news, Bitcoin skyrocketed up 10% when Binance and Kucoin paused Tether trading. Lastly, Tether moved their funds to Deltec Bank, calming the banking despair for Bitfinex and Tether.

With all of this controversy, readers might be wondering where the other cryptocurrency exchanges are banking with. Thankfully, The Block has compiled a report of where they believe each cryptocurrency exchange is banking:

From: The Block

Despite the ease of finding these data, The Block hints that Bitfinex tries to hide their identity: “Our findings suggest that Bitfinex is the only significant firm that opens accounts using alternatives names.” This layer of privacy could be what’s causing Bitfinex’s name to be dragged through the mud as of late.

Missing from this list is BitMEX, who does not trade USD on their platform and has their corporation organized in the Seychelles. Considering that BitMEX does not allow any deposits or withdrawals in USD, and only deals in BTC, it seems BitMEX is able to avoid the banking headache experienced by many exchanges.

Crypto Banking Troubles

Banking issues have plagued the cryptocurrency space since its inception. Last year, even the extremely popular exchange Coinbase had trouble with its banking process, according to Business Insider.

Banking issues are not exclusive to the United States, as this trend has been seen all over the world.

Across the Pacific, banking isn’t easier either. The Reserve Bank of India has recently banned any bank accounts seen transacting with cryptocurrency exchanges. Despite these headaches however, Indian exchange Unocoin seems to be finding a way around the legislation.

PayPal is Cautiously Optimistic About Partnership with Libra Association

Payment platform was one of the first companies to join and support the Libra Association.

Payment platform PayPal is cautiously optimistic about its relationship with Facebook’s digital currency libra, despite being the highest-profile company to join the Libra Association.

PayPal Backs Libra Association

In June, shortly after the official unveiling of Facebook’s libra, PayPal announced an intention to join and support the Libra Association, a collection of tech and finance companies promoting the product.

At the time, PayPal billed the digital currency as a revolutionary product for people around the world,

We believe in democratizing participation in the digital economy for people from all walks of life, and businesses of all sizes.

However, PayPal appears cautious about its future with Facebook’s digital currency. PayPal investor relations vice president Gabrielle Rabinovitch reiterated Sept. 12 that the company is a non-binding agreement with libra,

It's a non-binding commitment. And obviously, I think there's a lot of work to happen before we get to that point where it becomes something more than just a very exciting idea.

She added,

The goals and ambitions of Libra are very consistent with PayPal's overall ambitions in terms of serving the underserved; democratizing access to capital. So we very much believe in the potential of Libra.

While PayPal appears optimistic about the future of libra, the digital currency has endured months of regulatory and political scrutiny concerning its release.

Earlier in the week, senior U.S. Treasury official Sigal Mandelker told an audience in Geneva that libra would be held to the highest standard of regulatory compliance in order to combat money laundering and terrorist funding.